Crafting

When things get blurry, stay focused!

/ Jodi / 13 Comments

geek is chic spectacular MFT

I’ve gone my whole life up until a few years ago without needing glasses.
I was always kind of proud to say I had 20/10 vision.  (not that I can take any credit for it)
Not 20/20 – – – but better!

And then it happened………
It seemed like overnight…
things got blurry…
I started moving things further out to focus in on…
I couldn’t read the “small print”…

I had laughed at Marty for years asking if I could hold the menu for him 10 feet away so he could read it when he stretched his arm out as far as he could to see it more clearly.

Payback is a bitch!

But it couldn’t be just that, I thought to myself.

So I went to the eye doctor telling him something was really wrong with my eyes, and that I suddenly seemed to need glasses.
We went through the whole rig-a-ma-roar of testing – and alas – he smiled and chuckled.
I still have 20/10 vision, he assured me…
For distance that is.

“But you see my dear,” he gently chuckled, “when people get around your age, they often need reading glasses.”

How did that happen?

Uh – Look in the mirror, Jodi! You are 51 years old!

Dang!

So – yep – I’m part of that club that has a pair of glasses on top of my head or the tip of my nose as I walk around, and then I have to pull them down or push them up to read my iPhone or computer, or a book, or a recipe, or basically anything that is not FAR AWAY!

I’m in that club that has a pair of reading glasses in every room of the house, 2-3 pairs in my purse, a pair in the car, in my briefcase…

I’m in that club that can never find a pair of glasses when I need them.

I am in that club where husbands and wives borrow each other’s glasses in a restaurant to read the menu because one of us forgot ours.

And wouldn’t it be nice if we could just leave them on…… but NOOO – then you can’t see the object or person 10 feet away, because now distance is blurry through the reading glasses!

So……. it’s up and down…….   off and on……..   in and out…….   round and round!

Oh well – I keep reminding myself that I was 20 once, and 30 once, and 40……

As my friend, Pam (aka Bub) would say, “Be glad to celebrate growing old.” As a cancer survivor, she helps me remember the blessings of the opportunity to grow “older.”

And so I embrace it, and I chuckle at it, and I loved this stamp set and had so much fun making this card to celebrate the “gift” glasses are to me at this stage of “the game.” 🙂

Life is SPECTACULAR, and I’m looking forward to sharing this card with one of my “club members.”

Because life does get blurry sometimes — right?

Literally and in oh so many other ways!!

stay focused MFT geek is chic

Happy Fall y’all!

/ Jodi / 23 Comments

Wondrous Wreath Fall PP212

I know – Fall doesn’t officially begin until September 22, 2014 at 10:29 pm…  (impressed with my precisional detail? – my own made-up word, “precisional” 🙂 )

There are still 12 more days until the Autumnal Equinox, and I can assure you I am going to embrace every last moment of “Summer.”

But  – – – in my quest to also embrace Fall, I’m going with it here folks!

And… The Paper Players Design Team has a “Happy Fall y’all” Theme Challenge  (PP212) this week, so I thought I’d play along.

pp212

And… I know exactly who I am going to send this card to!

She is someone I work with, who L – O – V – E s Fall.

She always puts her Fall wreath on her front door for the first day of school.

Not sure if Jamie even reads my blog, but this card is going in the mail to my Fall-lovin’ friend, and I hope she enjoys it.

For my card, I used SU’s Wondrous Wreath and For All Things stamp sets and had a little fun embellishing with Crystal Effects on the berries and some fluffy, fuzzy Autumn Flower-Soft on the bow and acorns.

Happy Fall y’all!

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

Tic-Tac-Toe 3x Three in a Row!

/ Jodi / 12 Comments

PP211

Remember playing tic-tac-toe as a kid?  Hangman?  Dots and Boxes?

tictactoe                              hangman                              dotsandboxes

Such simple pleasures and cherished smiles revolve around those less complicated, simpler times….

But life moves on….

Times change…

Do kids today still play tic-tac-toe?  On paper?

I love technology, but I also love paper – – –  For example – with books and reading … I sometimes read a book on my iPad, sometimes I listen to a book through Audible on my iPhone, and other times I love holding and turning the pages of a real book!  And sometimes I do all three with the same book – especially when I need to get through one for a book club deadline! 🙂

Anyway – we can dwell on the past reminisce or go with the flow and change with the times.

So it was fun to see The Paper Players offer a Tic-Tac Toe Challenge this week.  My first!  You had to choose any three items combined across, down or diagonal to make your card or project.

And my goal was to see how many ways I could get three in a row in one card!

Here is the tic-tac-toe challenge, and I got Three in a Row THREE ways with this card!

Can I get a WOOHOO?

pp211 tic tac toe

And here is my card challenge submission:

PP211I got:

Birthday – Yellow – Patterned Paper:  First Row Down

Birthday – Green – Button:  First Row Across

Patterned Paper – Ribbon – Purple:  Third Row Across

Fun stuff – eh?!?!  🙂

Ok – I know I know – I’m easily amused…

But the best part is that I get to send this birthday card to a very special someone who has a birthday coming up next week!

And to that special lady – I wish for her to know that you can never have too much happy.  I also want her to know what happiness she has brought to my life!

pp211 2

Love ya Joyce!  May you smile, giggle, laugh, and enjoy your day and year!  xo

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

The Gratitude Challenge

/ Jodi / 8 Comments

 

 

blended bloom suo 104

So now the latest “thing” buzzing around on Facebook is the Gratitude Challenge.

The Ice Bucket Challenge was awesome and all – for a while – and it raised some great awareness for ALS.  I did it. Everyone did it.  I’m growing a little weary of it.

But now I’ve been “nominated” to do the Gratitude Challenge.  I just finished my first post, and I’m still feeling a little bleery-eyed from expressing my gratitude for “my guys” (my hubby and my two boys – well men now – but all the same my guys).  Feeling so…… well…… grateful…    so full… so blessed.

There is nothing like spending time thinking about things you are grateful for and expressing that gratitude to make you feel good.

There’s a lot of “crap” that results from social media these days.  My dad and I talk about it regularly.  He’s not such a fan of it all.  I’m pretty much into it.

I am in Corporate Communications…..

And I do like to be “social”  🙂

So despite the “yukky” stuff that comes about through social media (which I need not take the time to mention and remind you about),  like everything else, social media can be used for good as well as bad.

I’m feeling good about the Gratitude Challenge, and I’m also going to make it a point to send a card of gratitude every day for the next five days to go along with my posts.

The card I’m showing here is one I am submitting for the SUO Challenge #104.   This is my first submission for SUO, so wish me luck!  Here is the description of the challenge rules:

“Clean and Simple” – also known as CAS – is a style of greeting card that most of us have tried at one time or another.  A Clean and Simple card is one that doesn’t have a lot going on with it.  It can have layers and it can have embellishments.  But basically with a CAS card, anything that’s part of it helps us all focus on the single important element in the card, including in many cases lots of clean space that forces our eye towards that focal point.  Your challenge for this SUO Challenge is to make a Clean and Simple card.

I love this SU Blended Bloom Stamp and can get lost in “coloring” it with alcohol markers and just blending and creating shades and highlights and different colors.  I hope this card meets the criteria of CAS, as I feel the focal point is the flower and hope your eye is drawn to that when looking at the card.

And…. I am going to send this card to a few ladies that I haven’t met yet, but hear are following my blog, so I am excited to send it with an extra little treat and hopefully bring a few smiles.  🙂    (Hi TSM friends!)

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

 

PS  Just in case you are wondering what I posted for my Gratitude Challenge Post #1, here it is:

Gratitude: Day 1

Janet Adams and Joyce Brugnoli both nominated me yesterday to do the gratitude challenge. Every day for five days I am challenged to list three things or people for which I am grateful. On each day, I nominate two people to do the same…. This is just about expressing thanks and recognizing amazing gifts in our lives. The sharing of my first three does not necessarily mean I am… less or more thankful for those things or people that I share over the next days.I could so overthink this as I am grateful for so many things in my life! I am having trouble narrowing down how to begin, so I will keep it easy by just expressing the first things that comes to mind…. 1. Marty (Merv) – the man I met when I was 16 and he was 20 – married when I was 19 and he was 23 – and that I still get to say “I love you” to every day – 35 years later. My rock – the man I cannot imagine my life without. 2. Our first born son, Jake – who changed my life forever by showing me the joy of motherhood 27 years ago. He gives me a hard time as often as he can, but also loves me so powerfully in a way that he and I “get” and enjoy. His intelligence and musical talent blow me away and make me so proud. 3. My “baby” Nick, who brought such joy to our little family 24 years ago when he joined it – all 10 bouncing pounds of him. He balanced us out by making us 4 and continues to balance us out in so many other ways. He charms me into doing anything he wants, gives me honest opinions, thinks like me, understands me, and humors me when the others don’t/won’t.

Jack of Many Trades, Master of None

/ Jodi / 6 Comments

I wonder what those of you that happen upon my blog must think…..

Do you say – what the heck is this blog about?

One day this Jodi chick is baking and sharing recipes…

smore cookies

S’more Cookies Please!

Haluski

Homemade Haluski – Peasant Food Fit for a King

Another day stamping and gluing and cutting and sewing and card-marking…

child birthday card punch art birds on wire The paper players

Birthdays are for the Birds!

 

Friends Make the World a Better Place Mojo Monday

Ain’t it good to know you’ve got a Friend!

I also love to take photos and consider myself an amateur student of photography…

Hummingbird Photo

Hummin’ the Hummingbird Tune!

polar bear pittsburgh zoo & ppg aquarium

Sunday at the Pittsburgh Zoo

and writing and telling stories gives me such joy.

Remembering Grandma - Stella Star

Remembering Grandma – Stella Star

I thrive on encouraging people – it’s in my DNA (or at least my DISC profile – LOL!)….

Remembering moments

Remembering Moments

Always be the last to let go of a hug

Hugs

and if I just could find the time to make 1/1,000,000th of the DIY ideas I’ve pinned on my Pinterest boards for decorating or gift-giving…

Wedding Survival Kit

Wedding Survival Kit

I adore spending time with my family and friends…

Fishing

The Day We Almost Caught a Fish

Girlfriend Camp GFC2014 Mars, PA spaceship

Girlfriend Camp

I tinker with gardening…

gardening, tomatoes

The Great Tomato Caper

and I truly seek to discover and learn new things always – it keeps me (ahem) young and alive…

Alpacas Four Points Alpacas

A Visit to Four Points Alpacas

I enjoy doing so many things (and am so fortunate to work a full-time job I love too!) that I just wish there were more hours in the day…

or at least wish that I was one of those people that only needed 3-4 hours of sleep a day (tried it for a while – didn’t work out – dangit!)

I sure am a jack of many hobbies and master of none.

But it is fun to be that way – eh?!?

And I love sharing the journey with you – my  supportive friends that have encouraged and continue to encourage me to write my blog – and those that have become new friends along this journey.

Global Mudder Tough Mudder

Tough Mudder

It is so exciting to see new friends subscribe, and comment, and “like” daily.

So on this Labor Day Holiday – I just thought I would share some of these faves from the 100+ posts I’ve shared so far from this labor of love blog I call LifeInBetween.me.

It was really hard to pick favorites, as I have LOVED writing and sharing every single one of them.

What is your favorite thing I write about?

I’d love to hear from you.

Happy Labor Day!  Make every thing you labor over a labor of love!

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

Love you Bunches

/ Jodi / 10 Comments

by the tide love you bunches 3

I cannot believe it is Back to School time already!  Where did the summer go?

And even though my boys are grown, I still get that funny feeling in the pit of my stomach this time of year…

When my boys were young, I was always a little sad to see summer end and have them go back to school.  Summer was so much fun!  I recall rushing to get our “chores” done in the morning, getting some semblance of a dinner started, even setting the table, and then spending lazy afternoons EVERY SINGLE sunny day at my friend, Barb’s pool.   Oh those were the days!   I was so fortunate to be a stay-at-home mom until Jake started 9th grade and Nick 7th grade.  There was no job I would have rather done when they were young.  (And I think that is why I can love my job so much now – because I have no regrets of time not spent with my guys when they were young – and since they don’t need me anymore – <SIGH!> – at least in the way they did when they were young – I needed more “purpose” to my days.)

I wonder if I’ll ever not get that feeling at this time of year?  When I hear my Dad tell me about the kids on the bus (and today is the first day of Kindergarten for the area where he is a bus driver – – – in his retirement after being bored staying home – – – hmmm – see any correlation there?! 🙂  ), my heart remembers those days of walking the boys to the top of the lane to meet the bus (and then take a walk with Tracy – who is still my walking buddy! 🙂 ) and passing the hours until they would come bounding home in the afternoon!

I sure did love those days and I sure do still love those guys – BUNCHES and BUNCHES!  And they both have terrific ladies they share their lives with now that I have grown to love also.   Marty and I are truly blessed.

Here is one of my favorite “First Day of School” photos taken at the bus stop, which is close to 20 years old!:

photoGosh!  How did I blink, and that turn into this?!?!?

JMW Nick Jake
Well – enough of that reminiscing!  Thanks for indulging me if you’ve read this far!  🙂

I hope you all are enjoying (or at least getting through) this back to school time of year!

The card I am sharing today is one I created for a new challenge to me – Freshly Made Sketches #151.  Here is the sketch we were presented with to create a card design from:

untitledSince I have lots of guys in my life, I need to come up with some more “masculine” cards.  For this design, I used SU By the Tide stamp set for the fish and seaweed, did a little watercoloring and sea salt technique to create my “ocean” background square, used some fun Neat ‘n Tangled “Punchinella” for an embellishment (cool stuff to repurpose the sheet that sequins are punched!!), a little fish scale look with my #WinkofStella brush pen (do you think I just love this brush pen because it is named after MY Grandma!? 🙂 ), and a couple of pearls for bubbles.

Enjoy – and Happy Back to School time!

by the tide love you bunches 3Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

 

 

 

Most Favorite

/ Jodi / 8 Comments

most favorite

I have ALWAYS had trouble choosing “FAVORITES”…..

Even as a child, I  could never choose a favorite color when asked….    I like one color to wear, another to just look at, another to decorate my house with….. how do you choose which one of those is your ultimate favorite???

Favorite food????  Well – favorite for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, dessert?????

Favorite book?  Usually every book I am currently reading is my favorite….

Favorite season?  Whichever one we are in!

Favorite holiday – well – that’s easy – CHRISTMAS!!!

Anyway – you see I have trouble choosing Favorites, but I LOVED this stamp from Neat and Tangled (the sentiment – the type font), and I figure I can send it to any one of my “favorites” – of which I am blessed to have a few 🙂

I do love black and white, and I just got this awesome SU Cherry Cobbler Sheer Linen Ribbon as a #FreebieFriday PRIZE from Linda Heller (thanks Linda!), and was dying to use it, so I created this card for The Paper Players Challenge #210. 

Here is the sketch challenge Jaydee created:pp210
I was so excited to be chosen as “A Cut Above” last week for my “Birthdays are for the Birds” card.  How fun is that?!?!?  🙂  I get to post this little badge, and you would think I won an Emmy!  (which I am watching while writing this, so excuse any typos as I switch back and forth…  another thing I love – Award shows! )

Cut Above Badge

So here is my card – may not have nailed the challenge – but I still kinda like it – – –  just couldn’t decide which photo angle was my favorite…………
from the right……
or from the left ………?
You decide!  I just can’t!

most favorite 2

Thanks for checking in.
Just having some fun – – – at Life in Between.

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

Aint it Good to Know You’ve Got a Friend!

/ Jodi / 8 Comments

MOJO359 2
Happy Friday!

Today I am sharing a card I designed for the Sketch Challenge #359 at Mojo Monday (MOJO359).

This card was totally inspired by one I saw done by Mojo Monday’s Julee Tillman.

Mojo359SketchHere is the sketch we were challenged to design from.

For my card, I started with some Navy and White SU DSP, embossed a “friendly” sentiment on vellum with gold embossing powder, colored a flower from SU Bloom with Hope with alcohol markers, then fussy cut and embellished with #WinkofStella and glued and stitched it all together for this fun friend card.

MOJO359 closeup

If you have a few moments, enjoy one of my all-time favorite versions of one of my all-time favorite songs 🙂

Friends make the world a better place.

Aint it good to know you’ve got a friend?

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

Birthdays are for the Birds

/ Jodi / 21 Comments

child birthday card punch art birds on wire

Birthdays were so much fun when we were kids – right?

And even more when my boys were young and we could do (what they eventually came to dread….)

THEME parties!

I recall parties themed with pirates and magic shows, and Barney the purple dinosaur………

jake 5 cake jake 5 pirates 2 jake 5 pirates

Oh the days….  (I can’t believe these were over 20 years ago now!)

Nick 3Nick 3 2

So I was excited to see The Paper Players Challenge #209 this week be a child’s birthday card.  Gave me a chance to be silly and fun.

pp209

Leanne Pugliese, of The Paper Players Design Team, is celebrating her granddaughter, Cassidy’s, 4th Birthday this week (Happy Birthday Cassidy!), so she chose a Clean and Simple (CAS) Child’s Birthday Card for #PP209 Challenge.

child birthday card punch art birds on wire
My card is a “punch art” card.  I’ve seen some amazingly creative critters created out of punched out shapes.  They range from puppies and turtles and hippos, lions, elephants, and monkeys to caterprillars and lambs and bears and birds – silly birds, angry birds, real birds.  There are some awesomely talented artists and designers out there!

I saw little birds similar to these somewhere at some point and thought they would make a fun child’s birthday card – especially for a “wee one.”  My “birds” are cut out using SU framelit circles and the bird builder punch for the wing and nose.  I sponged them with some pumpkin pie ink, glitzed their feathers a bit with #WinkofStella, cut out party hats from SU DSP, added some Crystal Effects to their beaks, and popped on a candy dot for the eye.  The background is done with a cloud embossing folder, the “telephone wire” is made from baker’s twine, and the Happy Birthday sentiment is from the Bloom with Hope stamp set.

I can’t wait to share this card with a wee one on their birthday.  As for me – no more birthdays please…  Birthdays are for the birds!

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

 

Bloom with Hope – Always and The TOUGH MUDDER!

/ Jodi / 10 Comments
Bloom with Hope Always

StampinUp Bloom with Hope Watercolored in Shades of Blue

Tomorrow is THE BIG DAY!  Jackie and Matt’s Wedding!!

Hopefully she is much too busy to be bothered reading my little ole’ blog post (or she will see her wedding card!)

This card is my #FreebieFriday post for our #WheretheRubberHitstheRoad group, and I couldn’t be more excited for a Friday!

Tomorrow’s celebration will be followed by an overnight with some of our besties, Joyce and Rob, followed by the #ToughMudder Event on Sunday, where Jake and Nick are participating in a team with Nick’s best buddy, Jon and his sister, Kelly.  Go Team McKinney/Randza!

#ToughMudder is a 10-12 mile (18-20 km) obstacle course designed to test all-around strength, stamina, teamwork, and mental grit.  The idea of Tough Mudder is not to win, but to have a story to tell!

Check out this video:


Oh Boy!  Eh?  It sounds like a lot of fun (for us spectators!) and is for a great cause – the Wounded Warrior Project.

Hopefully, I will get some fun photos and have some good stories to tell, but until then, have a great weekend all!

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

 

PS – In perusing some new bloggers and blogs, I came across a fun new challenge site:  Addicted to Stamps Challenge Blog and Laurie’s beautiful entry into the CAS Challenge #109.

CAS means “clean and simple” in the stamping and cardmaking world, so I thought I would give it a try with this card I made last week for Jackie and Matt’s wedding.

Clean and Simple can often be a challenge for me – I tend to want to over-embellish, but I think I kept this one pretty clean and simple 🙂 .